Robot 6

Exclusive: Dave Johnson’s variant cover for ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ #1

Image Comics has provided ROBOT 6 with an exclusive first look at Dave Johnson’s variant cover for the debut issue of Jupiter’s Legacy, the Wagnerian superhero saga from Mark Millar and Frank Quitely.

Announced in January 2012 as Jupiter’s Children, the 12-issue miniseries centers on the offspring of superheroes who have essentially squandered their inheritance, failing to live of to the example set by their parents, who gained their powers in the 1920s after discovering a mysterious island.

“I like the idea of doing something that feels more mythological,” Millar told Comic Book Resources last month. “Something that felt like it was part of something gigantic. It does tap in to myths to some degree in story terms, but I’m also trying to contemporize those ideas as much as possible and blend classic themes and very old story structures with modern imagery. Superhero stories tend to have a fairly well-worn structure, but I wanted this to have a very grand, operatic series of beats and really get a sense of escalation in an almost Wagnerian fashion. There’s lots of “Hamlet” in it. There’s a lot of father/son things going on with it. It almost seems like something you’d be given in school. [Laughs] It’s going to feel like a big, weighty tome that happens to be about superheroes. It’s also about everything else. It’s about the dawn of man, the origin of the planet and everything right up to contemporary economics and people nervous about the fiscal cliff and the end of capitalism. But it also goes as small as relationships and family life, too. This is my ultimate superhero story. Everything I’ve ever wanted to say, I guess.”